FAQ

HOW MANY GARAGE DOORS CAN I CONTROL AND MONITOR WITH EACH TAILWIND?
Each Tailwind iQ3 2.0 controller can control and monitor 1 door.

Each Tailwind IQ3 2.1 controller can control and monitor up to 3 garage doors or 1 gate. Please refer to our SmartFit Guide for details.

We have tested up to 300 doors on a single account, so it can handle whatever you throw at it.

TAILWIND AUTOMATICALLY OPENS MY GARAGE AS I APPROACH. SO WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMEONE STEALS MY PHONE?
Even if the thief knows where you live, your garage door is not going to auto-open for them. Unlike all other solutions on the market, Tailwind's patented technology requires your phone and your vehicle to approach together for automated operation. Plus, you're always in control. You can turn this feature on/off at any time.

DO I NEED A SENSOR FOR MY VEHICLE?
If you have an iPhone and you want auto-open on approach, yes.

If you have an Android phone that has been paired with your vehicle, no.

If you have an Android phone that has NOT been paired with your vehicle, yes.

DO I NEED TO HAVE MY PHONE WITH ME IN THE CAR FOR AUTO-OPEN?
Yes. Tailwind requires that both your phone and your vehicle approach home together. This is more secure and part of our patent. If someone steals your phone and goes to your house, your door is not going to open. The same is true if someone steals your vehicle and goes to your house. This makes Tailwind inherently more secure than keeping a remote in your car, while simultaneously offering the luxury of auto-open on arrival.

WE HAVE MULTIPLE PEOPLE, VEHICLES AND GARAGE DOORS. HOW DOES TAILWIND HANDLE THAT?
This is where Tailwind REALLY shines, thanks to patented technology. In the Tailwind app, you assign vehicles to garage doors. If you previously turned on the auto open / close features, the Tailwind app on your phone will sense which vehicle you (or your approved family members) are driving and open / close the correct door. Every family member can set up their own preferences in the app on their phone. Yes, it's pretty cool. You'll feel like a Super Hero. See the vehicle sensor page for details.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY INTERNET GOES DOWN?
It will still work when you're at home and your phone is on your WiFi. Plus, adding Tailwind to your garage door opener does not disable any existing methods for opening / closing your garage door(s). If your internet goes down for a while it will temporarily disable your ability to control your device from remote locations using your your phone.

CAN I SCHEDULE THE DOOR TO CLOSE AT A CERTAIN TIME AT NIGHT?
We have something even better. It's called "Night Mode". Think of it as a "timed auto-close" where it will close the door after being open a certain number of minutes - but it's only active during the night time hours you set. This is far better than just setting it to close at 10PM. What happens if someone opens the door after 10PM? Your schedule doesn't help, but Night Mode does.

CAN I SCHEDULE THE DOOR TO CLOSE IF IT HAS BEEN LEFT OPEN FOR A CERTAIN LENGTH OF TIME?
Yes. There is a Timed Auto-Close that is active 24/7 if you turn it on. You choose how it works. How long the door can stay open (up to 60 minutes), and if you only want to be notified or if you want to be notified and have the door close automatically.

WILL MY EXISTING REMOTES AND OTHER CONTROLS STILL WORK?
Yes.

DO I NEED A HUB OR A BRIDGE?
No. The Tailwind controller works directly with your home’s wifi router.

DO I NEED WIFI?
The Tailwind 2.0 and 2.1 controller can be controlled through WiFi or a hard-wired ethernet connection (optional PoE board required).

The auto-open feature is GPS-based and the command is sent through your smartphone internet connection, which means you can set the auto-open distance from as low as 50 feet up to 750 feet. Most people set it around 200 to 250 feet so the door is completely open as they roll up to their garage.

WHAT IS THE RANGE OF THE TAILWIND CONTROLLER?
The range is really a function of your wireless router. In our testing we’ve found that the range of Tailwind meets or exceeds the range of typical wifi routers. If you want to know if Tailwind will work in your garage, simply take your smart phone to that location and see if you can watch videos over the WiFi connection. If you can, Tailwind should work there.

WHY DOES THE TAILWIND APP ASK TO TRACK MY LOCATION?
The app needs to know when you are coming home and when you are leaving so it can automatically open or close your garage door for you. You can always turn off these features in the app. If you turn them off, there’s no need for the app to track your location. However, automating your garage door so that it simply opens when you arrive home, and closes automatically if you forget to close it when you leave are two really great features you would lose if you decide not to allow the app to track your location.

You should also know that none of your driving location information leaves the phone. The Tailwind app on your phone simply needs to know when you are arriving so it can open the door, and when you're leaving so it can close the door. Your location information is not used for anything more than this. You have the option of sending it to us in a bug report to help diagnose a problem.

HOW CAN I TELL IF TAILWIND WILL WORK WITH MY GARAGE DOOR OPENER?
Tailwind has been designed to work with virtually all garage door openers old and new. If your door opener has a button mounted on your garage wall, and you have a safety mechanism that detects obstruction (typically this is an invisible beam of light across the door), it should work. Please refer to our SmartFit Guide for more details.

IS THERE A SUBSCRIPTION REQUIREMENT?